


Won’t Back Down

by PhloxFox (Ravenwood316)



Series: Across The Universe [2]
Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Abduction, Cyberflux, Dib is captured, Dib’s a mess, Gen, Major Character Injury, Takes place while Zim fucks things up, Zim’s not in this but he’s mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:06:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25051384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ravenwood316/pseuds/PhloxFox
Summary: He remembers walking home with Zim, the base being on fire, Zim screaming, a sharp pain, then nothing.What Dib is up to while Zim fucks over the Massive. Companion to One Way or Another but can be read before.
Relationships: Dib & Prisoner 777 (Invader Zim), Dib & Zim (Invader Zim), Dib & captors, Dib/Zim (Invader Zim), Prisoner 777 (Invader Zim) & Spleenk
Series: Across The Universe [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1784341
Comments: 6
Kudos: 42





	Won’t Back Down

**Author's Note:**

> Yay Dib’s fic is done!!!!! 
> 
> Titled after Won’t Back Down by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers.

Dib opened his eyes and immediately closed them again. His head was pounding and his whole body hurt in ways he didn't think possible. After a while he finally opened his eyes slightly confused to see the inside of a ship instead of the strangely comforting mess of wires that was the base. The human was about to call out to his partner before freezing as the memories caught up to him. 

He remembers walking home with Zim, the base being on fire, Zim screaming, a sharp pain, then nothing. As quietly as he could not to draw attention Dib sat up and took in his surroundings. He seemed to be in some sort of cargo ship with three aliens sitting up front ignoring him. Once he got his bearings Dib turned his investigation towards himself. Surprisingly he wasn’t restrained and they hadn’t emptied his pockets. 

“Stupid aliens.” He muttered pulling out an earpiece Zim had made him quickly slipping it into his ear and turning it on. 

Automatically the universal translator started filtering whatever his captors were saying and translating it for him. As he listened to them bicker about some kind of alien soap opera Dib set to work check the rest of his pockets. His phone was next to useless in space, he had forgotten to charge the taser he normally carried, and his glasses were cracked. 

Huffing softly and without finding anything useful on his person Dib switched focus to the crates surrounding him. The first few he checked were nothing but machinery parts or what he guessed was food. Creeping silently to the next set of crates and smiling when he found weapons. Pulling one out and turning it over in his hands Dib was surprised to notice it was similar to one of Zim’s plasma guns. 

Feeling safer knowing he had a way to fight back Dib turned to the front of the ship. His captors were nothing like he had ever seen before. The one sitting closest to the cargo area of the small ship reminded Dib of a male peacock, they were covered in multicolored feathers with a razor sharp beak and claws. 

The one in the copilot’s chair reminded Dib of an Irken only; they had goat-like antennae and digitigrade legs and muted blue skin. But it was the one in the captain’s seat that gave Dib pause, they were a large lizard-like creature with spikes sticking up all over their face and head and covered in armor like scales. 

“So now that we’re back in our solar system what do we do with the weird creature we took from that stupid Irken?” The peacock asked, playing with its tail feathers. 

“Do you think the Empire would want it?” The goat Irken asked

“Why would they only want one? They contracted us to kill the defective Irken and said we could take whatever we wanted. Since it was clearly being kept as a pet I think we could sell it for a high price on Cyberflux.” The lizard huffed. The three aliens continued talking but Dib stopped listening. He didn’t want to believe it but if he was here did that mean Zim was dead?

Zim was dead and he was alone in a different solar system. Dib bit his tongue till he tasted blood trying to calm his breathing as his eyes welled up with tears. He couldn’t cry, not here at least but with everything else in his life he quickly lost control and let out a quiet sob alerting his captors he was awake. He was so lost in his own head he didn’t notice the peacock and the goat had moved in front of him till the peacock grabbed his chin and forced him to face them. 

“Sure is an ugly thing. Sure we can get a good price for it?” They asked before Dib hocked a loogie into their face. The reaction was immediate as the bird yelled and clawed him across the face as the goat tied his hands behind his back. 

“Stupid thing has no manners!” The bird hissed as the lizard laughed 

“It belonged to an Irken. What the hell did you expect? If we hadn’t needed the supplies we wouldn’t have even taken the Empire’s offer but I gotta admit electrocuting the Irken’s pak then tossing it into the burning building was kind of fun.” The lazard grinned tossing back a piece of cloth to use as a gag. 

For the rest of the trip Dib stayed silent feeling blood drip drip down his face glaring at the aliens as they went back to ignoring them. If Zim was dead he’d just have to find his own way out of this. Turning to look out the small window next to him Dib felt himself pause. Zim had taken him out into space a few times but never to the Irken’s own star system. From what he could see there were far more planets in Irken space than back in the Milky Way. 

The human must have passed out at some point because the next thing Dib knew the ship had docked and he was being dragged off the ship. Looking around Dib marveled at what he saw. They had landed on a planet that looked like it was one giant open air market. There were tents and stalks for as far as the eye could see with a few buildings intermixed.

Dib stumbled a bit as he was dragged along by the peacock before being shoved onto some kind of transport pad. Between one breath and the next they were on another part of the planet that looked a lot seedier than where they had just come from. Looking around as he was forced forward Dib was disgusted but sadly not surprised to see other aliens in cages. Zim had told him years ago of some of the things that were sold on the space black market. 

Feeling the chasm in his chest his Irken had left behind twinged and his anger started to boil out of it. Dib kept his head down but his eyes open and ears alert looking for a way out. He knew out of his three captors he wouldn’t stand a chance against the lizard, but he might have a chance against the other two. As he was thinking this and planning his escape a row of empty cages exploded just ahead of them blowing the group backwards. 

Dib hit his back pretty hard on one of the cages but managed to get to his feet and bolt before his captors realized what was happening. He dodged and weaved through the stalls as everything went to hell in a handbasket behind him. Sliding behind a random building to catch his breath Dib froze as he came face to face with another one of the goat aliens. This one was taller and stockier than the one he was running from, it also had dark purple skin instead of blue and pink eyes instead of green. 

They stared at each other for a few seconds before Dib tried to bolt again only to run into the chest of another alien with four arms knocking out his translator. The two new aliens communicated quickly in some complicated language before Dib was being held still while the purple goat freed his hands and removed his gag.

“What do you want from me?” Dib yelled trying to get away. The two aliens looked at each other before the one holding him used one of its arms to put Dib’s translator back in his ear. 

“What planet are you from? I’ve never seen anything like you before.” The goat asked 

“Why would I tell you anything? I just escaped from another freaky goat thing like hell I’m telling you shit!” Dib hissed struggling against the arms holding him just as the blue one skidded around the corner. 

“Hey that’s our Urthling!” It screamed charging forward. 

“Urth?” The purple one questioned before pulling out a blaster and firing at the blue one yelling for the alien holding Dib to return to the ship. Before Dib could really process what was happening the brown alien picked him up in a better hold and started running. They ran for a while before the purple one caught up. Looking behind them Dib could see his previous captors in hot pursuit holding their own weapons. Just as they reached one of the transport pads the lizard opened fire on them and Dib registered a sharp pain. 

The transport pad deposited them outside a long line of ships and they dashed into one and took off. As soon as they were out of the atmosphere the ship started screaming with alarm bells. With a few flicks from the brown alien a gray goat appeared in the windscreen. 

“Genn Fer you and Spleenk are needed back on the ship asap!” He ordered as Dib slid down the back wall of the ship, finally registering the blood blooming across his side and leg.

“What happened commander?” The brown alien asked

“Zim just took down the Massive.” Was the last thing Dib heard before his eyes rolled back and he lost consciousness.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and reviews are greatly appreciated!!!!!


End file.
